Spindle-bearing



(No Model.)

J. KILBURN. SPINDLE BEARING.

FI'E I JIT-\\ Patented Sept. 21,1897.

VjNEEE E UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN KILBURN, OF BELMONT, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPlNDLE-BEARING.

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 590,322, dated Septmber 21, 1897. Application filed December 2, 1896. Serial No. 614,259. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, JOHN KILBURN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Belmont, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spindle-Bearings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to spindles,

and more particularly to bearings for those spindles which are adapted when rotating under an unbalanced loadto center themselves and find their true center of rotation, and are generally designated as top spindles. As commonly constructed these spindles comprise a bolster having a tapered bearing and the blade or spindle, which has a tapered end or pintle which fits into the tapered bearing of the bolster, the spindle-pintle resting at its end upon a step which supports it in such position relative to the bolster that it will fitthe bearing in the bolster in a proper manner to insure the easy rotation of the spindle in the bolster without undue friction. It has been found in practice that the rapid rotation of the spindle causes it to wear away at the end of the pintle or to wear away the step, and that when so worn the tapered end of the pintle will fall into thetapered bearing of the bolster and will bind therein, causing an increase of friction between the spindlepintle and bolster and requiring more power to rotate the spindle and increasing the wear upon the parts.

To obviate the difficulties above noted,it has heretofore been proposed in the art to provide a vertically-ad j ustable step,whereby the wear of the parts can be taken up and the spindle held in the proper posit-ion in its bearings.

The object of the present invention is to provide improved means for securing the vertical adjustment of the step and bolster and retaining them in their adjusted position after said adjustment has been accomplished, and to the above end the present invention consists of the devices and combination of devices hereinafter described and claimed. j

A preferred form of the present invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of reference represent similar parts throughout both views, and in which g Figure 1 represents a vertical section through the spindle-support, the spindle and other parts being shown in elevation. Fig. 2 represents a similar view showing the invention applied to a spindle-support com prising a suspended bolster.

In the drawings, A represents the spindle, having the usual tapered end or pintle a and carrying the sleeve-whirl B. C- represents the bolster, D the bolster-case, and E the spindle-rail, all of which parts, except as hereinafter specified, may be of any usual or preferred form and arrangement.

' In the form of my invention shown in Fig. l the bolster C is provided With a bearing a in its base to receive the step f, which is carriedby the upper end of a pintle F and upon which the end of the spindle-pintle a is supported.

The bolster in the form of the present invention shown in Fig. 1 is supported at its base preferably by means of pins cl, driven into the bolster-case D to form a rest or support for the bolster C.

As before stated, the step f is arranged to be moved vertically by the rotation of the bolster O, and it may be conveniently formed upon the top of said' pintle, being arranged within a bearing d in the bottom of the bolster-case, the end of the pintle and the bearin g being of such construction that the pintle may be moved vertically bya rotation of the bolster. Any suitable construction of the pintle F and the bearing (1 may be provided which will enable the pintle F to be moved vertically without removing the parts from the bolster-case D, and such adjustment of the pintle F and the step f, carried thereby, may be conveniently secured by providing the pintle F with a threaded endf and by correspondingly threading the bearing d in the base of the bolster-case D.

The above-suggested arrangement is such that the step f may be adjusted to accommodate for the wear of the parts by the turning of the threaded end f of the pintle F in its bearing d in the bolster-case D, thereby moving the step f vertically in the bearing 0 in the bolster C. It is designed that the pintle F shall be turned to adjust the step f by the an inclined face 0 turning of the bolster G, and for this purpose the step f and bolster C are arranged to permit a free movement of the step within the bolster and to secure a rotation of the step with the bolster, and this maybe conveniently accomplished by forming the step portion f of the pintle F square or polygonal in crosssection or any suitable shape other than round and forming the aperture or bearing 0 in the bolster of a corresponding shape, and as thus constructed when the bolster is turned it will turn the pintle F and by means of the threaded connection between said pintle and the bolster-case cause the pintle to move vertically, and thus move the step f vertically in its bearing in the bolster (3.

It is designed that the bolster be restrained from rotation and retained in a fixed position to thus maintain theadjustment of the pintle F, which has been produced by the rotation of the bolster, and, as shown in the drawings, this is effectively accomplished by forminga series of teeth 0' upon the bottom of the bolster C or upon a ring or washer connected therewith, the teeth being preferably formed with a substantiallyperpendicular face 0 and When thus formed, the faces 0 of teeth 0, engaging with the supporting-pins d, restrain the bolster from rotation with the spindle, but permit it to be rotated in an opposite direction to secure the adjustment of the pintle F, as before stated. Should it be desired, however, to restrain the bolster C from rotation by means other than that shown, the teeth 0 could be omitted and the bottom of the bolster left plain and unbroken and supported by the pins (Z,.as before described.

As shown in Fig. 1, the parts are arranged for a rotation of the spindle in a direction indicated by the arrow, Fig. 1, and the bolster to be turned in the opposite direction to raise the step f, but it is obvious that the construction could be arranged for a reverse movement of the spindle and bolster, if desired.

The operation of the invention as above described is as follows: The parts being in the position shown in Fig. 1, whenever the wearing away of the spindle-pintle a or the step f permits the spindle to drop farther into the bolster, and thus increase the friction between the spindle and bolster, the operator, by a suitable tool or device, turns the bolster in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the spindle, the inclined surface a of the teeth 0 riding over the pins d until the perpendicular faces 0 of the teeth are' reached, when the pins cl again act to lock the bolster C and hold it in the position to which it has been turned, and by thus turning the bolster O the pintle F is turned and by means of its threaded connection with the bolster-case is caused to move upwardly, thus raising the step f and removing the excess of friction which was developed by the wear of the parts, as above described. In the form of the present invention shown in Fig. 2 the bolster C is suspended at a point near its top or by complementary shouldersc and (1, formed upon the outer surface of the bolster and the inner surface of the bol- 'stercase, respectively. In this form of the present invention the pin d'does not support the bolster, but merely acts as a restraining device to restrain the bolster from rotation with the spindle and to hold the parts in their adjusted positions, as before described.

The operation of the constructionshown in Fig. 2 to produce an adjustment of the pintle and step is the same as that shown in Fig. 1.

To permit of a slight lateral movement of the bolster under the efforts of the spindle to center itself under an unbalanced load, the parts are loosely fitted to each other, and in the case of a suspended bolster the bearing in the base thereof'is preferably slightly flared from a point near the top of said bearing to the bottom thereof, as shown at 0 and,

if desired, the bolster may be surrounded by any elastic packing or by a film of oil,;as usual in these devices.

Having fully described the construction and operation of the present invention, I wish to state that I do not consider the same as limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, but

I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States-- 1. The bolster case, the bolster placed therein loosely, inclined teeth on the bottom of the bolster, fixed pins engagingsaid teeth, a vertically-movable pintle carrying the step upon which the spindle rests, mounted in a bearing in the bolster-case, and arranged to be moved vertically in said bearing, substantially as described.

2. The bolster case, the bolster placed therein loosely, a vertically-movable pintle carrying the step upon which -the spindle rests, mounted in a bearing in the bolstercase', and arranged to be moved vertically in said bearing by the rotation of the bolster without manually raising the bolster, substantially as described.

3. The bolster case, the bolster placed therein loosely, and means for restraining the bolster from rotation, comprising a pin projecting from the bolstercase, and downwardly-extending inclined teeth, on the bolster, substantially as described.

at. The bolster case, the bolster placed therein loosely, inclined teeth upon the bolster, fixed pins in the bolster-case engaging the teeth on the bolster, arranged to permit a rotation of the bolster in one direction while said bolster maintains a substantially fixed longitudinal position, and to restrain its r0- tation in the opposite direction and a step arranged to be adjusted by a rotation of the bolster, substantially as described.

5. The bolster case, the bolster placed therein loosely, means to restrain its rotation in one direction, and to permit its rotation in the opposite direction and a threaded step mounted in the bolster-case arranged to be adjusted by the rotation of the bolster, substantially as described.

6. The bolster case, the bolster placed therein loosely supported at its base, and means to permit a rotation of the bolster in one direction and to restrain it from rotation in the opposite direction, the rotation of the bolster taking place while it remains in a substantially fixed longitudinal position, substantially as described.

'7. The bolster-case, the bolster placed therein loosely, inclined teeth upon the bottom of the bolster, means to engage said teeth to support the bolster, and to permit its rotation in one direction Without manually lifting the bolster, and to restrain its rotation in \Vitnesses:

A. E. WHYTE, A. O. ORNE. 

